TWI499685B - System architecture for combined static and pass-by processing and method for processing substrate in said system - Google Patents

Description

System architecture combining fixed and mobile machining and method of processing substrates in the system

This case claims the priority of the Provisional Application No. 61/580,642, filed on December 27, 2011, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to a system architecture and method for processing and processing a substrate, which may be a magnetic disk, a touch screen, or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for utilizing a combination of fixed and mobile processing methods to improve the processing of substrate carriers in a substrate processing system.

Substrate processing, such as the manufacture of magnetic disks, touch screens, etc., is a complicated and complicated process. A bulky customization device is required to perform complex special processing steps, such as preheating, coating a plurality of coating layers on the substrate, followed by annealing and/or cooling the substrate. Machines used to machine substrates often require a large area and require a large amount of space to operate. In addition, the machine needs to be operated in a high-tech clean room, which is extremely expensive to construct and maintain. Therefore, it is required in the industry to reduce the space occupied by the substrate processing machine.

The industry also needs to increase the processing speed of each substrate unit to maximize The value of manufacturing machines is to maximize the production of the machine. Increasing the processing speed is somewhat a test, as many processing steps have the required minimum time to complete a specific coating, coating heating or cooling to properly fabricate a substrate. In addition, the processing of the surface of the substrate requires consistency in order for the manufactured product to function properly. Therefore, some processes require fixed machining, that is, the substrate remains stationary during processing. Other processes require mobile machining, which requires the substrate to continue to move during processing.

To this end, current technologies, such as the Disk Sputtering System 200 Lean® manufactured by Intervac Corporation in Santa Clara, Calif., have provided solutions to reduce the overall space of the system. The 200 Lean® is further described in U.S. Patent No. 6,919,001 (hereinafter referred to as patent 001), the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. As described in Patent 001, the system is operable to provide either fixed or mobile processing. Other systems have been described in the art today, and can be provided in stationary or mobile processing.

World Patent Publication No. WO 2006/026886 A1 (hereinafter referred to as bulletin number 886) also describes a substrate processing system that uses two stacked processing chambers to reduce the overall volume. Similar to 200 Lean® described in Patent 001, the bulletin number 886 describes a lift module for transporting a substrate from a chamber stack to a next stack and using a magnetic means, a linear motor, to transport the substrate. vehicle.

However, today's systems do not offer a viable solution that combines fixed and mobile machining in a single linear system. Therefore, what is needed in the industry today is an improved substrate processing system that can provide both fixed and mobile processing while minimizing system volume.

The following summary of the invention is provided as a number of aspects and technical features of the invention. Basic understanding. The invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the invention. The sole purpose of the invention is to be construed in a single

Embodiments of the present invention provide a substrate processing system that can be combined with stationary and mobile processing. Embodiments of the present invention also provide a simplified system architecture.

In accordance with various aspects of the present invention, a system for transporting substrates within a substrate processing system is provided. The substrate processing system has at least one stationary processing chamber and at least one mobile processing chamber. The substrate does not have to leave the vacuum environment when processed in a stationary chamber and a mobile chamber.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, the present invention provides a system architecture to reduce the footprint of the system. The system is constructed such that the substrate is processed in a vertical direction therein, and each chamber provides a processing source disposed on one of the side walls; wherein the other side wall faces away from a complementary processing chamber. According to one aspect of the invention, the chamber body is made of a single metal block, such as an aluminum block, wherein the metal block is machined from both sides to retain a partition wall and separate two complementary processing chambers. room.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system for processing a substrate, the system comprising: a loading chamber for transferring a substrate from an atmospheric environment into a vacuum environment; and a loading configuration for loading the substrate to a substrate carrier; a roller for transporting the substrate carrier in the system; a fixed processing chamber for processing the substrate when the carrier is stationary; a mobile processing chamber having a transmission area and a a processing zone; and a transport mechanism configured to transmit the carrier at a transmission speed in the transmission zone; and transmit the movement at a moving speed in the processing zone A carrier, wherein the transmission speed is higher than the moving speed. The transmission mechanism may include a plurality of rollers disposed on the fixed machining chamber and the base of the movable machining chamber, and each of the plurality of rollers may be separately activated. The transfer zone and the processing zone can be defined within a single undivided cladding. A rotary chamber is configured to rotate the carrier for transport in the opposite direction for processing on the opposite side of the system for processing the same side or opposite side of the substrate. The system may further include a second fixed processing chamber having a partition wall shared with the stationary processing chamber, and a second movable processing chamber having a partition wall shared with the movable processing chamber, and wherein the partition wall After the carrier rotates in the rotary chamber, the carrier moves through the second fixed machining chamber and the second movable machining chamber in opposite directions. A first transmitter is configured to load the substrate onto the substrate carrier, and a second transmitter is configured to remove the substrate from the substrate carrier. A first loading device is built to bring the substrate into the first conveyor, and a second loading device is configured to receive the substrate from the second transmitter. A first elevator device can be used to load the substrate to the first loading device and a second elevator device to remove the substrate from the second loading device. A first robot arm is configured to take the substrate from the substrate, onto the first elevator device, and a second robot arm is configured to remove the substrate from the second elevator device and place it into the substrate. The first and second robot arms are telescopic and rotatable.

According to other embodiments, the processing chamber body disclosed in the present invention defines a plurality of processing stations, and includes: a single cavity body, which is made of a single metal block to define first, second, and third therein. a fourth processing station; a first substrate transmission path formed by the single metal block and passing through the first and second processing stations; and a second substrate transmission path formed by the single metal block And crossing the third and fourth processing stations; and a partition wall, the first and third processing stations share and separate the first and third processing stations, and are shared and separated by the second and fourth processing stations The second and fourth processing stations are for preventing fluid between the first and third processing stations, And the flow between the second and fourth processing stations. A first set of transfer wheels can transport substrates from the first processing station to the second processing station, and a second set of transfer wheels can transport substrates from the fourth processing station to the third processing station.

According to other embodiments, an elevator and loading chamber assembly includes a loading chamber having a lower sealing plate, and an elevator assembly including an elevator body having an upper sealing plate, the elevator body being extendable to The upper sealing plate is combined with the lower sealing plate to form a vacuum seal, and the elevator body is further retracted to disengage the upper sealing plate from the lower sealing plate to release the vacuum seal; and an elevator blade is The elevator body moves and a mechanism that can engage and hold the substrate, and the elevator blade is configured to be raised or retracted within the elevator body to raise or lower the substrate.

In addition, the present invention also discloses a linear system for processing a substrate in a vacuum, comprising: a first chamber linear arrangement that maintains a vacuum environment and has a path that allows the substrate carrier to be directly from a chamber Moving to a chamber below the first direction of movement; a second chamber linearly arranged, the second linear arrangement maintaining a vacuum environment and having a path for moving the substrate carrier directly from a chamber to a second direction of movement a chamber, the second moving direction is opposite to the first moving direction; a loading chamber is located on the inlet side of the first linear array, and is configured to introduce a substrate from the atmospheric environment to the linear alignment of the first chamber Maintaining a vacuum environment; an unloading chamber located on the exit side of the second linear array, and being configured to remove the substrate from the vacuum environment maintained by the linear arrangement of the second chamber to enter the atmospheric environment; a rotary chamber connected to An exit side of the first linear array and an entrance side of the second linear array, and configured to receive the substrate carrier from the first linear array and to transport the substrate carrier to the second linear array; A linear arrangement and the second linear array each comprising at least one stationary processing chamber and the process chamber at least one mobile, the mobile a processing area is defined in the processing chamber; and a substrate carrier transport mechanism is configured to: maintain the substrate carrier stationary during processing in the stationary processing chamber; and when the substrate carrier is in the mobile processing chamber Moving the substrate carrier at a transmission speed when the region outside the processing zone moves; and moving the substrate carrier at a moving speed when the substrate carrier moves within the processing region of the movable processing cavity, wherein the transmission The speed is higher than the moving speed. A loading elevator is built to load the substrate into the loading chamber; an unloading elevator is built to remove the substrate from the unloading chamber. A retractable blade cover has a vacuum sealing plate at an upper end thereof; a lifting blade is movable within the retractable blade cover; and a vertical moving mechanism couples the retractable blade cover and the lifting blade and is vertical The retractable blade cover and the lifting blade are moved. A loading robot is configured to remove the substrate from the substrate and transport the substrate to the loading elevator; and an unloading robot is configured to unload the substrate from the unloading elevator and transport the substrate to the substrate.

Meanwhile, the present invention also provides a system operation method, the system having a fixed processing chamber and a movable processing chamber for processing a substrate, and including: transferring the substrate into a vacuum environment; loading the substrate Transferring the carrier to the stationary processing chamber, and maintaining the carrier at a certain position during processing in the fixed cavity; once the processing in the stationary processing chamber is completed, the transmission is performed Transmitting the carrier to the mobile processing chamber at a speed until the carrier reaches a position behind a previous carrier within the mobile processing chamber; once the carrier reaches a position behind the preceding carrier And reducing the moving speed of the carrier to continue to transport the carrier at a processing speed in the mobile processing chamber, wherein the processing speed is lower than the transmission speed.

The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, principle. The purpose of the drawings is to exemplify the main features of the embodiments of the present invention. The drawings are not intended to illustrate all of the features of the actual examples, nor are they used to indicate the relative

Several aspects of the present invention are directed to providing techniques for processing substrates to fabricate articles such as hard disks, integrated circuits, touch screens, and the like. Embodiments of the present invention display several technical features, such as combining fixed and mobile machining, reducing the space required for the system, simplifying cavity fabrication, and the like. While in the illustrated embodiment, some use more than one technical feature, it must be noted that each of the technical features may be implemented separately or in different combinations for use in different processing systems.

One aspect of the present invention is directed to a technique for providing fixed and mobile processing of bonded substrates. As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a substrate processing system 100 includes a stationary processing chamber 102 and a mobile processing chamber 104 that are linearly arranged to provide several coatings or processes to the substrate 103. The substrate is placed on the carrier 105 as detailed in FIG. The carrier 105 is in contact with a plurality of contacts 106 on the outer edge of the substrate to maintain the entire surface of the substrate exposed to coating and/or other processes. The carrier 105 also has a carrier substrate 109 that is engageable with the track and power roller 108 for movement through the chambers 102 and 104 of the system 100. Please note that the configuration of the track and the roller is only one embodiment as will be described in detail below. Other embodiments, such as using only a roller but not using a track, may also be used in the present invention.

As seen in Figure 1, the substrate is first machined in a stationary cavity 102 that remains stationary during processing and then processed in a moving cavity 104 where the substrate has to be moved during processing, and then in another A mobile chamber 104 is machined and thereafter machined in another stationary chamber 102. Under this design, the need to minimize the idle time of the chamber will Produces problems that are difficult to move synchronously. That is, in order to achieve high usage, each chamber must be in a state of processing the substrate at all times, and it is not necessary to wait for the processing of another chamber to be completed before processing the next substrate. For example, if the chamber 102 completes its substrate processing, but the next mobile chamber 104 has not been processed, the chamber 102 must be left idle to wait for the chamber 104 to complete processing to release the finished substrate and begin Processing new substrates. However, as will be explained below, the embodiment of Fig. 1 can overcome this problem, achieving the goal of not having any chambers idle and all chambers are constantly processing substrates.

Before explaining the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, first, several types of elements of the system of the embodiment will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the system includes a loading chamber 101 through which the substrate is placed from an atmospheric state into a vacuum environment of the system 100. The vacuum can be maintained by pumping the vacuum pump 107. The vacuum can be supplied to each chamber individually or shared by several chambers, as shown in FIG. The substrate is then moved into a stationary processing chamber, in this example a heating chamber 102. In this example, a vacuum valve 112 separates the loading chamber 101 from the atmospheric conditions, and another vacuum valve 113 separates the loading chamber 101 from the heating chamber 102. In this particular example, there is no vacuum valve between the heating chamber 102 and the processing chamber 104, and there is no vacuum valve between the processing chamber 104 (shown in Figure 1 for two processing chambers). If desired, the valve can be placed between the chamber and the chamber. For example, if the stationary chamber 102 performs plasma processing, rather than heating only, a vacuum valve can be used to separate the mobile processing chamber therefrom.

The heating chamber 102 is a stationary processing chamber, meaning that the substrate is stationary during processing, i.e., during heating. Once the substrate reaches the desired temperature, the power wheel 108 is energized to move the carrier to the first mobile processing chamber 104. According to one feature of this example, the power wheel 108 is first activated to transmit the carrier at high speed to "catch up" one of the chambers 104. The substrate for mobile processing is completed. Once the carrier exits the chamber 102, a new carrier can be transferred into the chamber 102 for processing so that the chamber 102 does not idle. Conversely, once the carrier catches up with the earlier carrier in the chamber 104, the power wheel 108 is decelerated and set to a mobile machining speed that is well below the catch-up speed. Therefore, the roller needs to be individually driven or driven in a group. Depending on the position of the power wheel, some of the power wheels must be individually energized, some of the power wheels must be paired with power, and some of the power wheels are energized for the group, for example, 6 or 8 power wheels are simultaneously driven at equal speed. This design can be said to drive the power wheels at individual speeds, meaning that instead of energizing all of the power wheels are rolling at the same speed. With this design, the conveyor system can operate at different speeds at different locations. Thus, different carriers in the system can be transferred within the system at different speeds at the same time. For example, at certain points in time, some of the rollers are stationary so that they can be machined in the stationary machining chamber, and some rollers are driven at the transmission speed to move a carrier into the mobile machining chamber, or The carrier is transported within the chamber while the other sets of rollers are driven at the processing speed to machine the substrate in the processing zone of the mobile processing chamber. Another way is to use a linear motor unit.

In such an example, the processing chamber 104 is a mobile processing chamber that represents the substrate being continuously moved during processing. In this example, two mobile processing chambers 104 are utilized, both of which perform Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), which can also be referred to as a sputtering chamber. In order to improve the problem of inconsistent distribution of the sputtering material on the entire surface of the substrate 103, the substrate carrier must be continuously moved during sputtering. Also, in this example, the magnetron 115 of the PVD cavity 104 must be circulated back and forth such that both the substrate and the sputtering source continue to move during processing. This way a high degree of sputter consistency and target utilization can be achieved. Of course, it is also possible to keep the carrier moving only, but the magnetron is stationary.

A second heating chamber 102 can be provided downstream of the processing chamber 104 if the sputter layer requires annealing. The second heating chamber 102 is also a stationary processing chamber. Thus, once the substrate passes the edge of the sputter magnetron, the appropriately selected roller 108 is energized to achieve a fast transfer speed and the carrier is transferred into the second heating chamber 102. Once inside the heating chamber 102, the roller is stopped and remains stationary during the annealing of the carrier. In the embodiment of Figure 1, an outlet loading chamber 111 is located at the end of the system. The loading chamber 111 transfers the substrate from a vacuum environment to the atmosphere.

2 shows a top view of a substrate processing system, such as the system shown in FIG. As shown, the heater 122 and the sputtering source 124 are located only on one side of the chamber, so that only one surface of the substrate is processed at a time. 2 and shows the track 130 engaged by the power roller 108 for transporting the carrier 105. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the base 109 of the carrier 105 includes an extension portion 127 and a roller 129, and meshes with the rail 130 and the roller 108 to transport the carrier in a vertical state to operate throughout the system. . In this embodiment, at least one set of rollers 108 and 129 are magnetized wheels to provide increased traction. Also, if a linear motor is used, a series of magnets 101 can be attached to the base of the carrier.

4 is an overall flow diagram showing the flow of a processing sequence performed within a system such as that depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. At step 400, the substrate is transferred to the loading chamber and loaded onto the carrier. The loading chamber is then emptied at step 405, and when emptying is completed, at step 410, the carrier is transferred into the stationary processing chamber and remains within the stationary processing chamber. At step 415, a stationary process is performed, for example, heating the substrate while the substrate remains stationary. Once the stationary processing is completed, for example, the substrate reaches a desired temperature, in step 420, the carrier is quickly transferred into the mobile processing chamber and positioned in an already completed processing chamber. The position behind the vehicle. Once the carrier reaches the position behind the previous carrier, the speed is slowed down and the mobile transmission speed is used to perform the mobile machining at the moving speed at step 425. Please note that since the carrier is moved from the fixed cavity to the movable cavity at a rapid transfer speed to catch up with the previous substrate, from the viewpoint of the sputtering cavity, a substrate is often processed. That is, the sputtering chamber is always fully used, and the chamber performs continuous sputtering, like a series of "endless" substrates, constantly moving one by one at a moving processing speed. Therefore, the sputtering source does not need to be repeatedly turned on and off, and there is no time for the substrate to be processed in the chamber. Therefore, the sputtering source can be fully utilized. In contrast, once the carrier leaves the chamber 102 at the transfer speed, a new carrier then enters the chamber 102 for stationary processing.

Another embodiment of the present invention will now be described. This embodiment doubles the number of processing chambers without significantly increasing the system usage space. Both FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show such an example. FIG. 5 is a side view of system 500 in accordance with an embodiment, and FIG. 6 shows a top view of the system of FIG. The embodiment depicted in Figures 5 and 6 can be viewed as arranging the two systems of Figure 1 back to back. In addition to increasing processing throughput by adding only a small amount of space, this design provides the advantage of allowing the substrate to enter and exit the system from the same side. This advantage is particularly advantageous for clean room environments where the substrate arrives from one side of the clean room partition, enters the system operated after the partition, and serves as the same entrance from the clean room partition The side leaves the system.

With continued reference to Figures 5 and 6, the substrate enters the system via the inlet loading chamber 501 and then moves to the loading chamber 503 where it is loaded onto the carrier. The carrier is transported by roller 508 or by rails 530a, 530b and a linear motor (not shown). The roller 508 first transports the carrier to a stationary processing chamber, namely a heating chamber 502a. The carrier remains stationary during processing of chamber 502a. Once the processing in chamber 502a is completed, the substrate is reached At the appropriate temperature, the carrier accelerates at a rapid transfer speed to catch up with the carrier already within the processing chamber 504. Once the vehicle reaches the previous carrier, i.e., slows down and continues to travel at the mobile speed, the mobile speed is lower than the fast transmission speed. As shown in Figure 6, the mobile processing chamber 504 has four sputtering stations corresponding to the sputtering sources 524a, 524b, 524c, and 524d, and the sputtering sources are arranged in pairs and back to back. Thus, in this example, the substrate is first processed by sputtering sources 524a and 524b. Once the processing is completed at platform 524b, the carrier is again accelerated to a fast transfer speed to enter the carrier transfer chamber 519. In this example, the carrier transfer chamber 519 includes a turntable 517 for moving the carrier from the first path, i.e., from the track 530a, to the second path, track 530b, ready to travel in the opposite direction. Once the carrier has been positioned on track 530b, the carrier is again accelerated and moved using a mobile processing transfer speed to be processed by sputtering sources 524c and 524d. Once processing in the sputtering station 524d is complete, the carrier is again accelerated and travels into the heating chamber 502b for stationary annealing. Once the annealing is complete, the carrier is transferred into the unloading chamber 523. Here, the substrate is removed from the carrier and moved into the loading chamber 511. The unloaded carrier is then moved to a rotating chamber 529 where it is moved from track 530b to track 530a to reload a new substrate within loading chamber 503.

As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the carrier transfer chamber 519 includes a turntable 517 having two carrier mounts 517a and 517b. If the substrate only needs to process a single surface, the carrier seats 517a and 517b are fixed, so that when the turntable is rotated 180°, the carrier on the carrier base 517a will be located in the previous position of the carrier base 517b. The position so that the carrier previously passed through the track 530a can be moved onto the track 530b, traveling in the opposite direction. If the carrier mount is of a fixed type, the same surface previously machined by the sputter sources 524a and 524b is then processed by the sputter sources 524c and 524d. Conversely, if you need to sputter sources 524c and 524d To machine the opposite surface of the substrate, the carrier mounts 517a and 517b are arranged to rotate 180 degrees while rotating the turntable 517. This is shown by the curved arrow in Figure 6. Alternatively, instead of using a turntable, instead of using a turntable, a carrier mount 517 is moved linearly back and forth over the track 518 (as indicated by the double arrow). If it is desired to machine the same surface of the substrate, the carrier mount 517 is moved linearly to the second path position (as indicated by the dashed line) while rotating 180°. It should be noted, however, that although in this example, one or two carriers may be loaded in the carrier transport chamber, in other embodiments it may be possible to provide more than two loads in the carrier transport module. Applications.

Figure 7 shows an example of a mobile processing chamber, such as the chamber body of chamber 504, and Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the chamber body of Figure 7. According to this embodiment, the chamber body is fabricated from a single piece of metal, such as an aluminum block, to provide four processing stations, arranged in pairs and back to back. In this example, a single aluminum block car is formed into through passages 534a and 534b in which the rails are placed to allow the carrier to travel therethrough. As shown in the figure, after the through passages 534a and 534b are finished, a partition wall 540 is left to separate the chamber body into two parts, and the two form a symmetry to the partition wall 540. At the same time, pairs of holes are also placed in each side of the main body to place the sputtering source. In this example, pairs of holes 544a and 544b are formed on opposite sides of the pair of holes 544c and 544d. In addition, an access hole 538 is also provided for placing the power roller 508. If necessary, a hole 537 can also be provided to provide access to the vacuum pump and a hole 539 for setting the vacuum valve. Similarly, other threaded or unthreaded holes can be driven for component mounting, such as fixed chamber attachments and/or supports.

Figure 9 shows another example substrate carrier 905 that can be applied to any of the systems disclosed herein. The point at which the carrier 905 is different from the carrier 105 is unequipped. wheel. Instead, all of the rollers, including the magnetic rollers and power rollers for adsorption and transfer, are attached to various loading stations and various chambers of the system. In this embodiment, the system has no rails, but the base of each chamber is equipped with a motorized roller and an idler (hereinafter referred to as "roller 108" - please note that only a few rollers are shown in Figure 9, continuous in the figure The 3 point represents that the arrangement of its rollers continues to extend throughout the path) for supporting and transferring the carrier 905 held in the upright position. The base 909 engages the roller and remains in a vertical position during processing and transport. In this design, the carrier can be made extremely thin, and the loading chamber can be cleared more quickly, and because the gate blade moves a very short distance, the vacuum valve can be opened and closed extremely quickly. The substrate is supported in the space 903 by contacts 906. Two (or more) of the contacts 906 are fixed, and the other two are movable by the tabs 927 (only one of the tabs is shown in FIG. 9). As shown, when the tab 927 is moved in the direction of the arcuate arrow, the pin of the contact is retracted, and the substrate can be replaced. The tab can then be released and the contact 906 springs back against the substrate. Meanwhile, as shown by the broken line in the figure, if a linear motor is used instead of the power roller, a series of permanent magnets 901 can be placed on the substrate 909 to provide a driving force to couple the linear motor coils disposed on the base of the chamber (not shown). ). Similar devices can be used with other vehicles disclosed herein.

10A and 10B show an instant snapshot of a time during operation of the system as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. As shown, several vehicles are operating simultaneously within the system. The figure shows that the carrier 105a is positioned on the turntable 171, after which a substrate has been removed from the carrier of the unloading chamber 172b (Fig. 10B) and the carrier 105a has been moved to the loading station 172a. At this time, the carrier 105b is located in the loading station 172a, has loaded a substrate, and has been moved into the heating station 173a. Within the heating station 173a, the substrate on the carrier 105c has reached its desired temperature and the carrier is about to leave the chamber and accelerate to a fast transfer speed to track the carrier 105d. Processing chambers 174a and 175a are, in this example, two sputtering chambers with open channels therebetween. Within the processing chambers 174a and 175a, three carriers 105d-105f are moved at processing speeds, one after the other, while their substrates are deposited from a sputtering source to supply a sputtering material. As shown, this snapshot shows that the carrier 105g has been machined in chamber 175a and has accelerated to the state of rotation within chamber 176. From this point on, the carrier will pass in the opposite direction through the other side of the system, as shown in Figure 10B, to the location where the carrier 105a is now.

As shown in Fig. 10B, the carriers 105h-105j are moved one by one at a processing speed before the sputtering sources of the chambers 174b and 175b. The carrier 105k is stationary in the annealing station 173b, and the carrier 1051 is stationary in the unloading station 172b, where the substrate is unloaded from the carrier. Thereby the carrier will travel to the position displayed by the carrier 105a in the revolving station 171.

As can be understood from the above description, a substrate is often present in the space before the sputtering sources 115a-115d, so that the sputtering sources 115a-115d can be continuously operated and thus achieve the purpose of full utilization. In contrast, the heating and annealing process can be performed in a fixed mode, thereby simplifying the size and configuration of the chambers. To combine a fixed processing chamber with a mobile processing chamber, the present invention uses two transmission speeds, namely a fast transfer speed and a mobile processing speed. In this example, the power roller can be operated in at least three modes for this purpose. The three modes are: stop, processing speed and fast transmission speed, and the fast transmission speed is higher than the processing speed. Also in this example, each power roller can operate alone in three modes; however, another method is to enable the rollers to operate in groups depending on their position. For example, a roller located at the center of the sputtering chamber may never need to operate at a fast transfer speed, but only at a mobile processing speed. Similarly, rollers near the entrance and exit of the sputter chamber may never need to be operated at mobile processing speeds and will only operate at fast transfer speeds.

Moreover, the mobile processing chamber is sized such that its inlet side has a dead-space 181 so that the incoming carrier can be processed from its leading edge and the substrate is continuously processed throughout the movement. All surfaces. At the same time, there is also a dead-space 182 on its exit side so that the outgoing carrier can be completed until its trailing edge is processed before it is accelerated into the rotary chamber. The dead zone 181 on the inlet side can provide a space to enable the carrier to accelerate before the leading edge of the substrate enters the processing zone and catch up with the previous carrier. As such, the dead zone 181 can also be referred to as the transfer zone of the processing chamber; and the remainder of the chamber can be referred to as a processing zone. Although not representative of the ratio, the dead zone 181 illustrated in FIG. 10 is sized to accelerate the carrier 105c to catch the carrier before the trailing edge of the substrate on the carrier 105d reaches the leading edge 191 of the sputtering source 115a. 105d. Thus, in this example, the transfer zone is made longer than the width of the substrate. In this manner, a new carrier can be placed in the mobile processing chamber before the entire surface of the previous substrate is sputtered.

Figure 11 shows an example of a loading and unloading mechanism that can be adapted for use in any of the systems disclosed herein. The example of Fig. 11 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of Fig. 6. FIG. 11 shows that the loading chamber 1101 is coupled to the loading chamber 1103 and the loading chamber 1111 is coupled to the unloading chamber 1123. Each chamber is evacuated by a vacuum pump 1107. Alternatively, as will be described in more detail below, chambers 1101 and 1111 are maintained in the same vacuum environment as their opposite loading and unloading chambers 1103 and 1123, thus between chambers 1101 and 1103, and chambers 1111 and 1123. There is no need to use a gate between them. That is, there is an unobstructed passage between the chambers 1101 and 1103 and between the chambers 1111 and 1123. Such a design will be described in more detail in the embodiment of Figures 12-15.

The substrate 匣 1120 moves on the track 1121 to transfer the unprocessed substrate To the processing system, the processed substrate is also removed from the system. The substrate 匣 1120a is shown in the loading position, wherein the elevator 1113 vertically lifts the unprocessed substrates one by one into the loading chamber 1101. In the loading chamber 1101, a conveyor 1109 removes the substrate from the elevator 1113 and moves horizontally to load the substrate onto the carrier 1105a. On the other side of the dividing wall 1140, the conveyor 1108 unloads the substrate from the carrier 1105b and transports it to the elevator 1114. The elevator 1114 lowers the substrate onto the substrate 匣 1120b.

As can be understood from the above description, because of the size of the substrate and the size of the transport mechanism, the size of the loading chambers 1101 and 1111 needs to be increased to avoid time-consuming pumping to vacuum every time a new substrate enters. This is especially true when the substrate is moved in a horizontal direction by a conveyor in a vertical state. If this does become a technical problem, there are several ways to overcome it. For example, several substrates can be loaded into the loading chamber before the vacuuming begins, i.e., the conveyor can load the plurality of carriers one after the other, and then feed the next batch to the transfer chamber. Although this method is a feasible solution, the structure of the transmitter mechanism is complicated, and since the substrate needs to be loaded into the transmitter chamber and evacuated to a vacuum environment, no carrier can be loaded. time. Figure 12 shows another solution.

Figure 12 shows a system architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which the substrate is loaded to a vacuum prior to loading into the conveyor mechanism. Elements in Figure 12 that are identical to Figure 11 are labeled with similar reference numbers. As shown in Fig. 12, the chambers 1201 and 1211 have a doorless opening that leads to their respective loading chambers 1103 and unloading chambers 1123, and can share the air pressure with the latter, and allows the substrate to pass smoothly between the chambers. Thus, chambers 1201 and 1211 are essentially only individual extensions of loading chamber 1103 and unloading chamber 1123 and may be referred to as transmitter chambers.

The transmitter cavity 1201 has a loading chamber 1203 that is secured to its bottom plate. load The cavity 1203 has a low vacuum valve 1207 that interfaces with the atmosphere and a high vacuum valve 1209 that interfaces with the transmitter cavity 1201. The loading chamber 1203 is substantially a tube having a square cross section, and its internal volume is made extremely small, substantially only larger than the substrate itself, so that it can be easily and quickly evacuated by the air pump 1205. That is, the inside of the loading chamber 1203 is formed in the same shape as the substrate, but is slightly larger. The transmitter chamber 1201 is often kept under vacuum by the air pump 1107. Alternatively, the valve can be connected by a suitable conduit so that the transfer chamber 1201 and the loading chamber 1203 can be simultaneously evacuated using only one pump.

When the valve 1207 is open and the valve 1209 is closed, the elevator 1113 loads a substrate into the loading chamber 1203. Valve 1207 is closed and pumping pump 1205 draws vacuum into loading chamber 1203. Once the vacuum is reached, valve 1209 is opened and the substrate is loaded onto the conveyor 1109. This is achieved by freely sliding the upper end portion of the elevator 1113 within the valve 1207. Perform the reverse process when uninstalling. That is, when the valves 1208 and 1210 are both closed, the air pump 1206 vacuums the unloading chamber 1204. Valve 1210 is then opened, and valve 1208 remains closed, and a substrate is removed from the conveyor 1108 and loaded into the loading chamber 1204. Valve 1210 is then closed and valve 1208 is opened and the substrate is removed from the loading chamber 1204 and loaded onto substrate 1120b.

Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of a combination of a chamber vacuum valve and a substrate lift. The embodiment shown in Figure 13 can be used in, for example, the system of Figure 12. In Fig. 13, the main body 131 can function as a cover for the elevator element 134, which can be driven by the motor 135 for vertical movement. The elevator element 134 can be, for example, a lifting blade that is free to move within the body 131 and can be driven by the motor 136 for vertical movement. In this embodiment, the vertical movement mechanism includes motors 135 and 136 that provide vertically moving power to the body 131 and the elevator member 134 so that they can be separately Move. The sealing plate 132 is configured to engage a complementary sealing plate, such as 1207 of Figure 12, and form a vacuum seal therewith.

In operation, the main body 131 and the elevator element 134 are both in their lower positions in the initial position. From this initial position, a substrate is located on the elevator element 134, such as the tip of the lift blade. The main body 131 and the elevator element 134 are then raised to the full position of the substrate in the loading chamber (such as the loading chamber 1203 of FIG. 2), and the sealing plate 132 engages an additional sealing plate on the loading chamber to form a vacuum. The location of the seal. The loading chamber is then evacuated to achieve a vacuum. Once the vacuum condition is reached, the valve 1209 is opened and the elevator element 134 is free to slide within the body 131 for further lift to move the substrate to a position that the conveyor can reach so that the transmitter can engage the substrate. The elevator element 134 is then lowered to close the valve 1209. Once the valve 1209 is closed, the loading chamber can be returned to atmospheric pressure and the body 131 and elevator element 134 lowered to their original position to receive another substrate.

As shown in FIG. 12, the elevator device is configured to vertically move the substrate while the substrate is held in a vertical state by the elevator, and the transmitter is configured to move the substrate horizontally, but the substrate is still held in the vertical state by the elevator. . The carrier is also constructed to maintain the substrate in a vertical state. Thus, once the substrate exits the substrate, it remains in a vertical state during transport and processing within the system until it returns to the substrate. When in the substrate, the substrate can be stored in a vertical or horizontal state, as will be explained below.

Figure 14 shows a system of another embodiment which can increase the substrate loading usage. The system shown in Fig. 14 is similar to Fig. 12, and the same components as those in Fig. 12 are denoted by similar reference numerals. The embodiment of Figure 14 by including two loading chambers for the loading The side and the two loading chambers are on the unloading side, and the substrate loading is faster than Figures 11 and 12. On the loading side, a first loading chamber 1203 and a second loading chamber 1403 can be fabricated in a manner similar to that of Figure 12, using the combination of the valve and substrate loading mechanism shown in FIG. That is, the combination 1413 of the valve and substrate loading mechanism is coupled to the loading chamber 1403, and the combination 1113 of the valve and substrate loading mechanism is coupled to the loading chamber 1203. During operation, when one side of the loading chamber, such as loading chamber 1203, is pumped to the vacuum stage, the other side of the loading chamber, such as loading mechanism 1413, can be used to load a new substrate and lift to loading chamber 1403. Next, when the loading chamber 1403 begins to operate vacuum pumping, the substrate at the loading chamber 1203 can be lifted to the conveyor 1109 and then pumped to atmospheric pressure to prepare for reloading other substrates. A similar operation can be performed on the unloading side, wherein the combination of the valve and substrate loading mechanism 1114 is coupled to the loading chamber 1204, and the combination of the valve and substrate loading mechanism 1414 is coupled to the loading chamber 1404.

In the embodiment of Figures 11-14, the substrate is seen to be lifted directly from the substrate by lifting the blade. However, this configuration is not necessarily feasible. For example, substrate rafts, which are commonly deployed in some manufacturing equipment, place the substrate horizontally within the substrate stack. In such an apparatus, the lifting blade of the present invention cannot be used to lift a substrate from a substrate because the lifting blade of the present invention is designed to lift a substrate in a vertical state. Moreover, in some systems, the track used to transport the substrate is not aligned with the loading chamber of the processing system, such that the substrate cannot enter the loading chamber after vertical lifting.

15 is a schematic view showing a configuration for unloading and loading a substrate to the substrate, wherein the substrate is in a horizontal state in the substrate, and the track for transporting the substrate is not close to or aligned with the substrate. Load and unload chambers. In this regard, the example of Figure 15 provides a solution to the two problems described in the previous paragraph. Figure 15 shows an embodiment of the system of Figure 14 Implemented therein and shown as a cross-sectional view as seen on line C-C in FIG. The elements in Fig. 15 are identical to the other figures, and the same reference numerals are assigned. In Fig. 15, the tracks 1121 used for the substrate cassettes 1120a and 1120b and the like are placed in front, not under the loading area of the system. For example, the track 1121 is shown in front of the rotary chamber 529 and the transmitter chambers 1201 and 1211. Please note that since the rotary chamber 529 and the transmitter chambers 1201 and 1211 are located above the C-C line of the region, they are shown by broken lines.

The robot arms 1550 and 1555 are both retractable and rotatable, and their movement directions are shown by the double-headed arrows and the rotating arrows in the figure. To load each substrate into the system, the robotic arm 1550 extends to remove a substrate from the substrate 匣 1120a. The robotic arm is then retracted to align one of the elevators 1113 and 1413 and swivel so that the elevator can engage the edge of the substrate and remove the substrate from the robotic arm. In this way, the robotic arm 1550 can be used to load the substrates to the elevators 1113 and 1413. Similarly, to unload the substrate from the system, the robotic arm 1555 reaches its retracted and rotated position so that a substrate can be loaded from the elevator 1114 or 1414 onto the robotic arm. Once the substrate has been loaded to the robotic arm 1555, the robotic arm 1555 extends and rotates to place the substrate onto the substrate cassette 1120b.

In the system of Figure 15, the substrate can only be processed on a surface. If the substrate in the box 1120a has a predetermined back side and front side surface, it is extremely important to place the substrate so that the correct surface faces the processing source. For example, the substrate may need to be placed such that a sputter layer can be formed on the correct (front or back) surface of each substrate. This can be achieved by placing the substrate in the substrate in alternating directions, for example, facing upwards, downwards, upwards, downwards, etc., so that the robots place the substrates one after another in turn to the elevators 1113 and 1413. In the upper case, when all the substrates are loaded onto the transfer chamber 1201, they face the same direction. In other words, the robot arm will base When the board is placed on the elevator 1143, it is rotated in one direction, for example, in a clockwise direction, but when the substrate is placed on the elevator 1113, the robot arm is rotated in the other direction, for example, in the counterclockwise direction.

In contrast, since the substrate stack is also transferred between other systems in the factory, and since most known machines are arranged to process substrates that are all placed in the same direction in the substrate, it is necessary to provide a system. Even if the substrates all face the same direction in the substrate, the substrate can be correctly loaded. To achieve this, in an embodiment of the invention, the robot arm is arranged to swivel only in the same direction, for example in a clockwise direction. However, when the mechanical arm engages the substrate, it is alternately performed from above and from below. For example, when the first substrate in the substrate cassette 1120a is to be loaded, the robot arm 1550 engages the first substrate from below, and then retracts and rotates 90° in the clockwise direction to load the first wafer to the elevator 1413. The robot arm 1550 is then rotated 90° clockwise and extended to engage the second substrate from above. The robot arm 1550 is then retracted and rotated 90° clockwise to load the second wafer to the elevator 1113. Thereafter, the robot arm 1550 is rotated 90° clockwise and extended to engage the third substrate from below, and so on. In this way, even if the robot arms are only rotated in the same direction and the substrate faces the same direction when placed in the case, all of the faces will face the same direction when the substrate is guided into the transfer chamber 1201.

The enlarged view of Figure 15 provides a front view of the robotic arm 1555 to more detail how the robotic arm rotates and how the elevators 1114 and 1414 lift the substrate. The robot arm 1555 clamps and holds the substrate with the clamp 1552 and takes the substrate 1105 out of the substrate. The robot arm 1555 is then rotated 90° about the axis 1553 to align the substrate 1105 with the elevator 1414, as shown by the dashed lines in the figure. After the substrate 1105 is lifted by the elevator 1414, the machine The arm 1555 extends and is rotated another 90[deg.] to extract another substrate from the substrate, but at this time the direction of the jaws is opposite to the direction of the previous substrate. That is, if the mechanical arm clamps the first substrate so that the jaws engage the substrate from above the substrate, the second substrate is clamped so that the jaws engage the substrate from below the substrate. The robot arm is then retracted and rotated 90° to align the substrate with the elevator 1114.

Figure 16 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment for illustrating the modularization of the system of the present invention. This embodiment provides four common components that can be combined and mated to produce different systems as needed. The common components of the system of FIG. 16 include a carrier transport module 1600, a substrate loading/unloading module 1605, a stationary processing module 1610, and a mobile processing module 1615. These four modules are like building blocks. Different system architectures can use one of these blocks or combine them in any way to form their system. Each block has its own vacuum equipment and can be directly connected to any other building block. As long as one of the modules provides a vacuum valve, it can be fitted with an opening in the paired module. Another method is to set all the modules to be rotationally symmetric (as indicated by the center of gravity mark and the curved arrow shown in the figure), so that the substrate loading/unloading module, the fixed processing module, and the mobile type The processing module can be rotated by 180° individually, and the paired modules are matched in the original position. The carrier transport module is also designed to be rotationally symmetrical, but when rotated 180°, it is mated to the opposite side of the system. In addition, the substrate loading/unloading module, the fixed processing module, and the mobile processing module individually have two sets of the same vacuum chambers, arranged side to back, so that one side thereof forms a first pass from the loading module. One processing path, the other side forms a second processing path to the unloading module.

In this example, the carrier transport module 1600 has a rotatable or linearly moveable carrier mount 517 as illustrated by other embodiments of the present invention. In Figure 16 It is shown that the orientation of the carrier transport module 1600 can be used to set it to the left of the system. The other carrier transport assembly 1600 can be oriented in the direction of 180° rotation and can be placed on the right side of the system. The transmission assembly 1600 is shown with its own vacuum pumping device and has a vacuum valve 1602 on one side/transport path and an opening 1603 on the other side/transport path. Similar configurations of vacuum valve 1602 and opening 1603 are also provided on each side of the other modules 1605, 1610, and 1615. It will also be appreciated that each valve 1602 is configured to mate with an opening 1603 in the mating module.

As described above, the loading/unloading assembly 1605 has a symmetrical design such that either side can serve as the loading side and the other side can serve as the unloading side. The substrate loader 1631 can be designed similar to the elevator 1113 of the example shown in FIG. However, the substrate can be loaded from below, that is, as shown in Fig. 12 (in this design, Fig. 16 is a "folded view"), but it can also be as shown in Fig. 16, from the side. In the present embodiment, two loaders 1631 are provided on both the loading side and the unloading side. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the loader is generally configured to seal the openings 1207 and 1208 and cooperate with the vacuum valves 1209 and 1210. Both the opening 1603 and the vacuum valve 1602 on either side of the loading/unloading assembly 1605 can be mated with other modules so that the loading/unloading assembly 1605 can be located anywhere in the system.

The stationary processing module 1610 can be used to perform processes such as heating, cooling, stationary deposition, stationary etching, and the like. The two sides of the module 1610 are designed identically, but different fixed processing devices can be added to each side. For example, the stationary processing device 1622 can be a heater, and the stationary processing device 1624 can be a heat sink for cooling the substrate. The important point is that the processing module 1610 is constructed such that any processing device can be attached to any processing side, and can be arbitrarily replaced with other processing devices.

The mobile machining module 1615 has a similar structure to the mobile machining chamber 504 shown in FIG. Each vacuum chamber has a dead zone 181, similar to that shown in Figures 10A and 10B. The dead zone 182 may also be provided if it is necessary because of the type of processing and the number of processing devices mounted on the mobile module 1615. One or more processing devices can be installed in each vacuum chamber. For example, one chamber can provide two magnetrons 1615 and the other chamber can provide two magnetrons 1616. All of the magnetrons 1616 and 1615 can be used to deposit the same material on the substrate, but the magnetron 1616 can also be used to deposit one material while the magnetron 1615 is used to deposit another material. Furthermore, the magnetron 1616 can also be used to deposit different kinds of materials, respectively, and the magnetron 1615 is used to deposit different kinds of materials, respectively, but the materials deposited by the two groups form a mapping relationship. Of course, the number of magnetrons provided in each vacuum chamber can be determined according to the processing required.

It should be noted, however, that while the above embodiments are described, it is assumed that the carrier is continuously moved in the same direction in a mobile vacuum chamber, although other configurations are possible. For example, when a carrier is stationary in the dead zone, the carrier in the machined side of the mobile chamber can be moved back and forth in front of the processing device. The design of moving the carrier back and forth in front of a magnetron helps to form a uniform deposit on the substrate. In addition, under specific processing, the carrier of the loaded substrate can remain stationary for a period of time in the processing zone of the mobile processing chamber.

Although the embodiments disclosed above are described in terms of specific conditions, other principles can be achieved by using the principles of the invention. Moreover, the operations described are also illustrated in a particular order, but the order is only one example of the implementation of the operation. The manner of operation may be arranged, modified, or omitted in any particular step, but still conforms to the features of the present invention.

All reference directions are used (for example, top, bottom, up, down, left, right, left, right, top, bottom, top, bottom, etc.), for illustrative purposes only, The reader is to be understood as being aware of the embodiments of the invention, and is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, and the scope of the invention. Connection terms (e.g., attachments, couplings, connections, and the like) are to be interpreted broadly and include intervening elements between the elements and the relative movement between the elements. Accordingly, it is not permissible to use the terms of the connection relationship to infer that the two elements are directly connected, or that there is a fixed relationship between the two.

In some cases, an element is described as having an "end" of a particular characteristic, ie,/or connected to another portion. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to elements that extend beyond this point, i.e., without extension, after being connected to another component. Therefore, the term "end" should be interpreted broadly to include the vicinity of the terminal of a particular component, link, component, part, etc., in the rear, in front, or in other adjacent parts. Anything shown in the above description or the drawings should be used for illustration only and is not intended to be limiting. Changes in detail or structure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

It should be noted that the singular forms used in the specification and the appended claims are intended to include the plural.

For the person skilled in the art, the individual elements and technical features of the individual embodiments illustrated and disclosed may be decoupled from or combined with any other various technical features, but not departing from the description of the present specification. The scope and spirit of the invention.

100‧‧‧Processing system

101, 111, 503, 511, 1101, 1103, 1111, 1204, 1404‧‧‧ loading chamber

102‧‧‧Fixed cavity

103, 1105‧‧‧ substrate

104‧‧‧Mobile cavity

105, 105a, 105b, 105c, 105d, 105e, 105f, 105g, 105l, 105k, 105j, 105i, 105h, 905, 1105a, 1105b‧‧‧ Vehicle

106, 906‧‧‧ contacts

107, 1107, 1205, 1206‧‧‧ vacuum pump

108‧‧‧Power roller

109‧‧‧Carrier base

112, 113‧‧‧ vacuum valve

115, 1615, 1616‧‧‧ magnetron

115a, 115b, 115c, 115d, 124, 524a, 524b, 524c, 524d‧‧‧ sputter source

122‧‧‧heater

127‧‧‧Extension

129, 508‧‧‧ Wheels

131‧‧‧ Subject

132‧‧‧ Sealing plate

134‧‧‧ Lift components

135, 136‧‧ ‧ motor

171‧‧‧ turntable

172a‧‧‧ loading station

172b, 523, 1123‧‧‧ Unloading chamber

173a‧‧‧heating station

174a, 175a, 504‧‧ ‧ machining chamber

174b, 175b‧‧‧ chamber

176‧‧‧Rotary chamber

181, 182‧‧ dead zone

500‧‧‧ system

501‧‧‧ entrance loading chamber

502a, 502b‧‧‧ heating chamber

512‧‧‧Return module, return channel

515, 1114‧‧‧ lifts

517‧‧‧ Turntable

517a, 517b‧‧‧ carrier

518, 530a, 530b, 1121‧‧ track

519‧‧‧Carriage transmission chamber

529‧‧‧Rotating cavity

534a, 534b‧‧‧ channels

537, 538, 539 ‧ ‧ holes

540, 1140‧‧ ‧ partition wall

544a, 544b, 544c, 544d‧‧‧ pairs of holes

901‧‧‧ permanent magnet

903‧‧‧ Space

909‧‧‧Base

927‧‧‧ 片片

1108, 1109‧‧‧ transmitter

1113, 1114, 1413, 1414‧‧‧ lifts

1120, 1120a, 1120b‧‧‧ substrate test

1201, 1211‧‧‧Transport chamber

1203‧‧‧First loading chamber

1207‧‧‧Low vacuum valve

1209‧‧‧High vacuum valve

1208, 1210‧‧‧ valves

1403‧‧‧Second loading chamber

1413‧‧‧ Lifts, loading mechanisms

1550, 1555‧‧ mechanical arm

1552‧‧‧ clamp

1553‧‧‧Axis

1600‧‧‧Carriage transmission module

1602‧‧‧Vacuum valve

1603‧‧‧ openings

1605‧‧‧Substrate loading/unloading module

1610‧‧‧Fixed processing module

1615‧‧‧Mobile processing module, magnetron

1622, 1624‧‧‧Fixed processing equipment

1631‧‧‧Substrate loader

1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic diagram of a substrate processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic view of a substrate carrier in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a general flow diagram of a process flow implemented in, for example, the systems shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of system 500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 6 is a plan view of the system of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a schematic view of a chamber body used as a mobile processing chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the chamber body shown in Figure 7.

9 is a schematic diagram of a substrate carrier 905 of another embodiment that can be used in any of the systems disclosed herein.

10A and 10B are snapshots of a system during operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The system shown is a system as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Figure 11 is a schematic illustration of a loading and unloading mechanism for use in any of the systems disclosed herein in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 12 is a schematic view showing a state in which the substrate has been fed into a vacuum environment before being loaded into the conveyor mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing a state in which a substrate elevator and a loading chamber vacuum valve are combined according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 14 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of the system of the present invention which increases the utilization of substrate loading.

15 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for unloading and loading a substrate to a substrate according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a module configuration according to an embodiment of the invention.

100‧‧‧Processing system

101, 111‧‧‧ loading chamber

102‧‧‧Fixed cavity

103‧‧‧Substrate

104‧‧‧Mobile cavity

105‧‧‧ Vehicles

106‧‧‧Contacts

107‧‧‧Vacuum pump

108‧‧‧Power roller

109‧‧‧Carrier base

112, 113‧‧‧ vacuum valve

115‧‧‧Magnetron

122‧‧‧heater

124‧‧‧Sputter source

Claims (20)

A system for processing a substrate, comprising: a loading chamber for transferring a substrate from an atmospheric environment into a vacuum environment; a loading configuration for loading a substrate onto the substrate carrier; and a fixed processing chamber for Processing the substrate when the carrier is stationary; a mobile processing chamber having a transfer area and a processing area; and a transport mechanism configured to transport the carrier at the transmission speed in the transfer area; and in the processing The carrier is transported at a moving speed within the zone, wherein the transmission speed is higher than the moving speed. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmission mechanism comprises a plurality of rollers disposed on the fixed processing chamber and the base of the movable processing chamber, and the selected rollers are independently activated. The system of claim 1, wherein the transfer zone and the processing zone are defined within a single undivided cladding. For example, the system of claim 1 includes a rotary chamber that is configured to rotate the carrier for transfer in the opposite direction. The system of claim 4, further comprising a second fixed processing chamber having a partition wall shared with the fixed processing chamber, and a second movable processing chamber having a share with the movable processing chamber The partition wall, wherein the carrier rotates in the rotary chamber, and is transported in the opposite direction through the second fixed machining chamber and the second movable machining chamber. The system of claim 5, further comprising a first transmitter configured to load the substrate onto the substrate carrier and a second transmitter configured to remove the substrate from the substrate carrier. The system of claim 6, further comprising a first loading device configured to load the substrate to the first conveyor and a second loading device to be configured to remove the base from the second transmitter board. The system of claim 7, further comprising a first elevator device for loading the substrate to the first loading device and a second elevator device for removing the substrate from the second loading device. The system of claim 8 wherein the first loading device comprises two loading chambers and the second loading device comprises two loading chambers. The system of claim 9, wherein the first elevator apparatus comprises two elevators and the second elevator apparatus comprises two elevators. The system of claim 10, further comprising a first robot arm configured to take the substrate from the substrate, load onto the first elevator device, and a second robot arm to be constructed from the second The substrate is removed from the elevator device and placed in the substrate. The system of claim 11, wherein each of the first and second robot arms is telescopic and rotatable. A processing chamber body defining a plurality of processing stations and comprising: a single cavity body, which is made of a single metal block to define first, second, third and fourth processing stations therein; a first substrate a transmission path formed by the single metal block and passing through the first and second processing stations; a second substrate transmission path formed by the single metal block and traversing the third and fourth processing And a partition wall shared by the first and third processing stations and shared by the second and fourth processing stations to prevent fluid between the first and third processing stations, and the second And the flow between the fourth processing station. The processing chamber body of claim 13 further includes a first set of transfer wheels for transferring the substrate from the first processing station to the second processing station, and a second set of transfer wheels to enable the substrate to be The fourth processing station transmits to the third processing station. A linear system for processing a substrate in a vacuum, comprising: a first chamber linearly arranged, the first linear arrangement maintaining a vacuum environment and having a path for moving the substrate carrier directly from a chamber to a first movement a chamber below the direction; a second chamber linearly arranged, the second linear arrangement maintaining a vacuum environment and having a path for moving the substrate carrier directly from a chamber to a chamber below the second direction of movement, a second moving direction opposite to the first moving direction; a loading chamber located on the inlet side of the first linear array and configured to introduce a substrate from the atmospheric environment to a vacuum environment maintained by linear alignment of the first chamber; An unloading chamber is located on the outlet side of the second linear array, and is configured to remove the substrate from the vacuum environment maintained by the linear arrangement of the second chamber to enter the atmospheric environment; a rotary chamber connected to the first linear An exit side of the array and an inlet side of the second linear array, and configured to receive the substrate carrier from the first linear array and to transport the substrate carrier to the second linear array; wherein the first linear arrangement versus The second linear array each includes at least one fixed processing chamber and at least one movable processing chamber, wherein the movable processing chamber defines a processing region; and a substrate carrier transport mechanism is constructed to be: in the fixed processing chamber Maintaining the substrate carrier stationary during processing; moving the substrate carrier at a transmission speed when the substrate carrier moves outside the processing zone in the mobile processing chamber; When the substrate carrier moves within the processing region of the mobile processing chamber, the substrate carrier is moved at a moving speed, wherein the transmission speed is higher than the moving speed. The system of claim 15 further comprising: a loading elevator configured to load the substrate into the loading chamber; and an unloading elevator configured to remove the substrate from the unloading chamber. The system of claim 15, wherein the loading elevator and the unloading elevator respectively comprise: a retractable blade cover having a vacuum sealing plate at an upper end thereof; and a lifting blade at the retractable blade cover And a vertical moving mechanism, coupled to the telescopic blade cover and the lifting blade, and vertically moving the telescopic blade cover and the lifting blade. The system of claim 17, wherein the loading device further comprises: a loading robot arm configured to remove the substrate from the substrate and transport the substrate to the loading elevator; and an unloading robot arm to be constructed from The unloading elevator removes the substrate and transfers the substrate to the substrate. The system of claim 18, wherein the loading robot arm and the unloading robot arm are individually rotatable along an axis and are configured to rotate the substrate from a horizontal state to a vertical state. A method of processing a substrate in a system, the system having a fixed processing chamber and a mobile processing chamber, the method comprising: transferring the substrate into a vacuum environment; loading the substrate onto a carrier; transmitting the Carrying the carrier to the stationary processing chamber and maintaining the during processing within the stationary cavity The carrier is in a position; once the processing in the stationary processing chamber is completed, the carrier is transported to the mobile processing chamber at a transmission speed until the carrier reaches a previous position in the mobile machining chamber Returning the position of the carrier; once the carrier reaches the position behind the previous carrier, reducing the moving speed of the carrier to continue to transport the carrier at a processing speed in the movable machining chamber, wherein The processing speed is lower than the transmission speed.